Scaffold ledger bracket



June 15, 1943. INGERMAN SCAFFOLD LEDGER BRACKET Filed Nov. 18, 1941 M M 3. m: M m VN T m M 0 3 m 2 F V B L x Patented June 15, 1943 TUNlTED STATES PATENT OFFICE' SCAFFOLD LEDGER BRACKET Fred 0. Ingerman, San Francisco, Calif. Application November 18, 1941, Serial No. 1 19,557

2 Claims, (Cl. 30 1-32) This invention relates to scafiold ledger brackets and has for one of its objects the provision of a detachable bracket which will be found useful by those artisans who, by the nature of their work, are required to erect and dismantle temporary scaffolds.

. It is another object of this invention to provide a scaffold ledger bracket which, while providing 'a'maximum degree of safety, will at the same time be found readily detachable inthe dismantling ofthe scaffolding of which it forms a part. Additionally, it is an object of this invention to provide a device of the character referred to which will be extremely inexpensive to manufacture and which will be susceptible of repeated use on consecutive jobs.

Other objects of this invention will become apparent as this specification proceeds, and the nov- "elty of the device will be pointed out with the requisite degree of particularity in the appended claims.

In' terms of general inclusion, the scaffold ledger bracket forming the subject matter of this application consists in a bracket member fabricated from sheet metal into a U-shaped or channeled form to receive the usual wooden scaffold ledger, one of the legs of the U-shaped member having a flange bent at right angles thereto to provide a means for attaching or securing the scaffold to the building wall surface.

It is a well-known fact that, in the uilding trades, carpenters are required to erect scaffolds to support-the workmen and material as the work on the particular building progresses. While the great majority of such artisans are careful to erect a scaffold which will support the weights involved, it is also well-known that the trade uniformly resorts to makeshift means of securing the scaffold against the building Wall surface. As a consequence, there have been innumerable cases of serious accidents where the scaffolding or parts thereof have given away or collapsed. So far as I am aware, the trade has never universally adopted any sort of scaffold ledger support means which could be used and reused and which would have due regard for the necessary factors of safety. It is, therefore, believed that the present invention fills a very urgent need in the building trade.

In the drawing forming a part hereof:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the scaffold ledger bracket forming the subject matter hereof;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the blank from which the subject matter of Figure 1 maybe formed;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a portion of a scaffold wherein the bracket forming the subject matter of Figure 1 is employed; and

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a modification of the bracket of Figure 1.

The numeral Ill designates generally the bracket forming the subject matter of this application, and it will be noted that it is formed of sheet metal or like material into a U-shaped or channeled member having legs or sides II and I2 and an integral bottom piece 13 connecting said legs. Extending from an edge of one of the legs, in this instance leg 12 of the U-shaped member In, there is provided a flange I4 bent at right angles to the plane of the leg I2.

It is the function of the U-shaped portion of the member It to receive the end of a ledger piece, and it is the function of the flange M to provide means whereby the device and the member supported thereby may be secured to a wall surface.

Nail holes l5, of suflicient diameter to accommodate the shanks of nails customarily used in such work, are provided in leg I l and in registry with said holes, there is provided a pair of enlarged nail holes H5 in leg 12. Thus, when the end of a ledger piece is laid in the U-shaped channel member, nails driven through the smaller holes l5 in leg I! will pass through the wooden member and through the enlarged holes It in leg 12 without too much care being given to absolute registry or centering.

In flange Hi there is provided a plurality of bayonet slots l1, each having a circular opening sufficiently large to pass the head of the average nail used in such work and a narrow slot l8 extending upwardly therefrom to receive the shank of the nail when the device is dropped into place.

Figure 2 illustrates the manner in which the bracket may be fabricated from flat stock of sheet metal, the bend lines being denoted thereon by dot and dash.

In Figure 3 there is illustrated a typical use of the scaffold ledger bracket. Here a ledger piece 20 has been dropped into the U-shaped portion of the member Ill, and nails 2| have been driven through the member and the ledger to lock the same against transverse strains on the scaffolding. The nails 2! need not be driven home, as the weight of the ledger is carried on the integral connecting portion l3 of the U-shaped member l0; and by driving the nails only partly home, due regard will be had for convenient dismantling of the scaffolding. Nails 22 have been driven through siding 23 and part way into the stud member 24 with a sufficient length of their shanks exposed to permit the nail heads to pass through the openings I! of flange M. The bracket member ID may then be tapped downwardly to cause the nail shanks to enter the restricted slots 18, the heads being engaged by the flange l4 while the weight of the scaffold will generally be sufficient to hold bracket I against vertical displacement and possible disengagement from nails 22, such vertical movement of the brackets may be guarded against by the simple expedient of driving a nail part way into the siding 23 and studs 24 immediately above flange M as a check (not shown) It will thus be seen that not onl is the ledger locked against vertical movement at its wall end, but it is also looked against any transverse movement of the scaffold supported thereby.

The remainder of the scafiold may be set up in the usual way by providing spaced vertical supports 25 which are secured to the ends of the ledgers in any conventional way, such as by nailing. When a plurality of such ledgers have been attached to a wall surface and are supported at their outer ends in the manner indicated in conjunction with conventional horizontal and diagonal braces (not shown) nailed to the vertical supports to eliminate lengthwise movement of the scaffold, they will provide a very secure supportin means for the conventional runners (not shown) extending across adjacent ledgers to support the workmen.

The device greatly simplifies the dismantling of the scaffolding. Having first removed the usual platform runners and horizontal and diagonal braces, the uprights 25 may next be knocked free of ledgers 20. Brackets, with ledgers 20 connected thereto, may be next tipped upwardly to bring the heads of nails 22 into registry with the circular openings of bayonet slots I! in flange I4, whereupon brackets 10 may be lifted clear to permit the driving home of nails 22 as a permanent part of the structure formed by siding 23 and studs 2d. Nails 2! may then be withdrawn to permit separation, if desired, of ledgers 20 and brackets H].

In Figure 4 there is shown a modification of the subject matter of Figure 1 consisting in providing an extension of the connecting portion l3 of the U-shaped member at the end adjacent the flange I 3, which extension 21 is bent downwardly at right angles to the plane of the portion l3 and slotted as at 28 to receive a nail shank. This modification involves added precaution against any tendency of the bracket ID to twist under unusual strains put upon the scaffolding as a whole. It will be appreciated, however, that it the bracket I0 is formed of sheet metal of sufficient thickness and strength to support the weights usually encountered, there would be little tendency of the bracket to twist and hence extension 21 is not regarded as indispensable.

One of the virtues of my invention is the fact that in its use it is not necessary to cut or fit the wooden members with which it is used. It is useful as a supplemental means with those wooden members normally used in scaifold construction.

It will be appreciated that the principle of the invention may be employed in forms other than those illustrated herein, and hence I desire full protection according to the scope of the appended claims.

The invention claimed is:

l. A scafiold ledger support comprising an open ended channeled member having sides and an integral bottom portion connecting the sides adapted to receive a wooden member, a plurality of axially registered apertures in the sides of the member, the apertures in one of the sides being substantially larger in diameter than those in the opposite side, whereby nails may be driven through the sides and a wooden member supported by the channeled member by entering the smaller holes in the sides without the necessity of absolutely centering the nails with respect to the larger holes, a flange bent outwardly at an angle from the edge of one of the sides of the channeled member, a plurality of bayonet type slots in said flange, and a slotted projection on the bottom portion bent downwardly therefrom at substantially a right angle thereto.

2. A scaffold ledger support formed from a onepiece blank comprising an open-ended U-shaped member adapted to receive a wooden member, a flange bent outwardly at a right angle from the edge of one of the legs of the U-shaped member for attachment of the device to a wall surface, nail holes in one of the legs of the member, nail holes in the opposite leg of the member of greater diameter than those in the first-mentioned leg but in axial registry therewith whereby nails driven through the aligned holes and a wooden member supported by the U-shaped member may enter the smaller holes without the necessity of absolutely centering the nails with respect to the larger holes, and a plurality of bayonet type slots in the said flange.

FRED O. INGERMAN. 

